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The Tap Strap Wearable Keyboard Lets You Type Anywhere

January 17, 2017

Written byCuriosity Staff

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Surely there's been a moment when you've really wanted to send an email or shoot someone a text, but you're not in front of your computer or you can't get to your phone. Wouldn't it be nice if you could magically turn any surface in front of you into a remote, convenient keyboard? It's not magic —it's called Tap, and this Bluetooth finger glove is revolutionizing typing technology as we know it.

Multi-Surface Texting Is Now A Thing

The Tap Strap is essentially a rubber band that slides onto your fingers like a glove. It uses Bluetooth technology to pair with almost any device, then it uses invisible sensors to, as HuffPost Tech puts it, "turn the tactile world into a keyboard." Now, you can type messages on ANY flat surface. Imagine the possibilities: sneak a text during your next meeting, type from your bed while your devices are charging, or even enter a new era of gaming. The Tap Strap could also be valuable for aiding the visually impaired.

So how does it work? "The Tap Strap has a series of embedded sensors which monitor mechanical information of the hand and fingers," the company explains on its website. "This information is processed by an MCU [multipoint control unit] in the Strap, which decodes the raw data into finger tap combinations and transmits the resulting characters or commands via a Bluetooth radio."

Learn Some Combinations, Then You're Ready To Tap

Using the Tap Strap is supposedly simple once you've mastered a few (well, 31) tapping combinations. Each finger represents a vowel, and then combinations of different fingers taps will make other letters, characters and punctuation marks. Tap claims it takes most users about an hour of playing the game on their TapGenius app — basically a Tap training game — to get the hang of it. If you're ready to get your Tap on, we're sad to say that you'll have to join their waiting list. We just did, and we're number 39,759.

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